Firefighter lifts spirits of 6-year-old coping with skin disease

Eva Bruno, 6, (center) became an honorary member of the Walker Fire Department on Nov. 12, 2017. In this photo she is joined by her family and the department’s president Chris Flugel (bottom left) and chief Jim Hushard (bottom right).(Photo: Caurie Putnam)

Walker, a hamlet in the southeast part of Hamlin, has a new honorary firefighter: Eva Bruno, 6, of Brockport.

The child was welcomed into the ranks at a dinner recently in her honor attended by nearly all the members of the small, close-knit Walker Fire Department.

“We wanted to show her that she can do anything,” said Jim Hushard, chief of the Walker Fire Department. “She has friends and family here.”

Among her newfound firefighter family is Chris Flugel, president of the department. Chris and Eva share something under their fire helmets he says makes them super-cool: a lack of hair.

Flugel, 34, of Clarkson, was diagnosed with alopecia — an autoimmune skin disease, causing hair loss on the scalp, face and sometimes other areas of the body — when he was 11. Eva was diagnosed this summer.

Flugel and Eva met this fall through their mothers. His mom, Renee Flugel, is a longtime lunch monitor at the Ginther Elementary School in Brockport, where Eva is in first grade.

“Eva looked so different when she left school in June than when she started school again in September,” said Eva's mother Maggie Bruno, who explained Eva lost almost all of her “beautiful, blonde curls” suddenly and unexpectedly in the matter of four weeks.

Renee Flugel noticed the physical change in Eva when she returned to school, and reached out to Maggie Bruno, who teaches at Ginther, too.

“I knew how difficult it was for Chris when he was first diagnosed,” Renee Flugel said. “We had no place to go for help.”

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Both families have coped with a lack of sensitivity from some strangers, among their challenges with the disease. They also are frustrated at the dearth of medical research.

“Because alopecia doesn’t cause pain, there’s not a real focus on research,” said Maggie Bruno, who explained there are no known treatments or cures. “There’s often a lack of awareness and sensitivity to the condition. It’s not cancer, you can’t catch it, but it does affect one's emotional well-being and anxiety level on a daily basis.”

When Chris Flugel learned about Eva from his mom, he wrote her a letter and sent her a Buffalo Bills hat. In October the two met in person when the Walker Fire Department visited the school for National Fire Prevention Week.

“He told her she didn’t have to have hair to be cool,” said Maggie Bruno, recalling their meeting. “And that has stuck with her. She made an impression on him as well.”

Chris Flugel had the idea to make Eva an honorary member of the department. Maggie and husband Sean Bruno — Eva’s dad and the superintendent of schools at the Mexico Central School District — were on board.

A large sign welcomed Eva Bruno, 6, of Brockport to a dinner in her honor on Nov. 12, 2017 at the Walker Fire Department. At the dinner, Eva became an honorary member of the department.(Photo: Caurie Putnam)

“I wanted Eva to feel that she’s perfect just the way she is and to help lift her spirits,” Chris Flugel said.

The evening, which included a ride in a fire truck and gifts for Eva, did just that.

“It really, truly boosted her self-esteem,” Maggie Bruno said. “The event was really lovely and we were touched by the kindness and warmth of everyone in the department. They are just a great group of people.”

Additionally, the Bruno family has been touched by how everyone at the Ginther School has supported Eva over the past few months.

“Even though she looks different, she’s still just the same happy, energetic little girl,” Maggie Bruno said. “There’s not one child here who has not accepted her and loved her. We feel blessed.”

Contact Caurie at caurie@urgrad.rochester.edu with news from west-side towns. She’s on Twitter at @CauriePutnam and on Facebook at facebook.com/WestExtra.